


The Story Behind a Dance

by moon_girl_loves



Series: Kyalin Week 2020 [5]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Bending (Avatar), Dancing, F/F, Kyalin Week 2020, dancing and lots of fooling around instead of practicing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:48:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27556363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moon_girl_loves/pseuds/moon_girl_loves
Summary: Republic City needs a pick me up.Luckily, the anniversary is coming up, and the gAang's kids have gathered.Lin thought performances were a waste of time, but what could go wrong, and what could go right?aka,Lin is not a morning person, the gAang's kids are friends, relaxation is rewarding, and dancing is surprisingly fun.
Relationships: Lin Beifong/Kya II
Series: Kyalin Week 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2007766
Comments: 4
Kudos: 30
Collections: KyaLin Week 2020





	The Story Behind a Dance

**Author's Note:**

> Kyalin Week Day 5!!! 
> 
> First of all, what I need to mention is the idea for the harmony dance, and performing it at a festival, was inspired by "the beginning of a new and brighter birth" by aloneintherain on a03! Its an absolutely amazing fic and I love it so much!!! That being said, please let me know if they want me to take it down due to this! I think I made most of this fic my own, and it wasn't mentioned much, but it is a big part of the plot and I'm not sure exactly how I should be crediting, so please let me know!
> 
> It's late and this is not proofread as much as I normally would, so please excuse any errors! I hope you all like it!!!
> 
> Prompt = Bending/Dancing  
> (I think the prompt was changed to bending/bed-sharing but I already had something for dancing so I decided to use that).
> 
> See the end notes for some warnings!

Lin didn’t think anyone would bring it up this year, with the whole mess with Kuvira, and if they did, she planned to decline.

She didn’t have time for that silly dancing around, especially with the rebuilding going on.

_Unfortunately, she hadn’t planned for Kya._

Kya had come to her early in the morning, knowing she was not a morning person, in a groggy and confused way.

_(Lin did have to wake up early for work, but she had never really acclimated to it, needing conspicuous amounts of coffee to get her going and usually just preferring to work the night or retailer morning hours shift(she may have been a contributing factor in shifting switch offs to 9 am instead of 6, it was better for traffic anyways))._

Lin hadn’t really understood what Kya was asking at 5 am. 

She just understood that Kya was pretty and nice and in her house, Kya wanted to spend more time with her, and that she thought this would be fun. So, she agreed.

Coherent Lin was cursing herself for it, but even she was excited at the prospect of seeing Kya more...even though it had the consequence of Bumi and Tenzin(Bumi was fine, annoying a bit but usually knew when to stop, Tenzin... did not).

She questioned her life as she trudged to the island from the docks, dressed in light flowy pants and a forest green tank top.

She felt naked without her armor, but it wasn’t exactly conducive to dancing.

_(It was conducive to dancing, she fought in it after all, but it was hot, falling in it hurt more(not that lin thought she would be doing much of that, the possibility however was there), and...Lin never really wore any other clothes ever. These ones looked nice, she had thought so in the mirror at least, and no one would be seeing her except Kya, Bumi, Tenzin, and maybe the ferryman.)_

Dancing… had not been a primary feature of the evening. 

In theory it had been, they had spent the first fifteen minutes after arriving at the crystal cave talking about what they remembered about the dance and adding to the scroll Tenzin had found, but it rapidly dissolved as they got bored and frustrated.

Kya had doused Bumi with water after a jab at her dancing abilities, and he had chased her into the water, where they were now soaking wet and chasing each other.

Tenzin and Lin had tried to keep at the task at hand, but neither of their hearts were in it(There is only so much one can remember about choreography from four decades ago, and trying to recall it from four different accounts is not exactly a calming experience).

Soon, Kya had doused Tenzin as well, and came out of the water to drag him into the game.

As tenzin struggled in Kyas arms, Lin could only think, _Sp*rits I wish that was me_ , and marvel at where that came from, before she was also snatched up by Bumi. 

Bumi had scooped her up in a different fashion than Kya had with Tenzin, she was in his arms, bridal style.

“Bum! Let go of me!” Lin struggled, trying to get out without hurting him.

“Nope!” Bumi replied cheerfully. 

“Guys!!!! Let’s play capture princess Linny!” He called loudly to the others, and Lin sighed dramatically, accepting her fate and slumping into his arms. If her weight was too much for him then it served him right for grabbing her.

Lin couldn't help the smile that twitched on her face as Bumi loudly declared himself the knight and started to run, well as much as you could run in water. 

Bending was prohibited, so he had a decent lead on Kya, who was chasing them, shouting things about being a dragon.

“Sir Bumi! Unhand her! You can never take my princess”  
“You’ll have to catch me first fierce dragon! I will bring princess Lin to my kingdom!”

Lin felt something go weird in her stomach when Kya said ‘my princess’...it was probably from Bumi almost tipping them over(something she was certain was on purpose).

Soon, Kya was gaining on them with surprising speed(had the extra weight actually been too much for Bumi?) and her arms were grabbing Lin.

Lin’s head was jostled into Kya’s chest, and she fought a blush, sighing internally when Bumi had her again.

They played for a while longer, and then switched to chicken fight, partially due to Tenzin’s refusal to engage in the game. 

_(Lin’s heart ached for the past...they had been best friends as children, with easy camidiere(they had been in the same class for 12 years after all), but the absolutely awful string of decisions they had called a 15 year relationship had ruined it. She wished she could do it over and stay far away from the convenient romance that had never really been much of a romance anyway, just young idiots who had been told they were in love, and went too far to comfortably stop. It had changed them both far too much in too many, not very positive, ways.)_

Lin was on Bumi, because he was who had her at the time, and Kya was on Tenzin.(The pairs were also mainly due to height, tallest and shortest, and middles. Tenzin was taller than Kya, but the height difference between Lin and Bumi made theirs seem like a pinch.)

Lin was...slightly distracted, so Kya won a round or two before Lin’s competitive spirit rallied, claiming multiple victories.

There was most certainly something to be said about airbenders and balance. 

Unfortunately, balance was susceptible to pushing, so Tenzin ended up almost braining his head on the _**only** large rock in the **entire** cove._

They came out after that, and Kya bent the water from their clothes, the airbenders air dried the rest, and Lin bent away any pesky sand. 

They were relaxing on the shore, in a comfortable silence, when Lin’s radio cracked to life, and she left to deal with some emergency or another at the station. 

*

The next practice ended in a similar manner, though this time they were collapsing after playing avatar instead, aka a glorified version of hide and seek tag. 

It had developed from an argument about one of the moves Aang had developed, and then Bumi, trying to demonstrate Zuko’s moves, had instigated the game by tackling him and yelling about honor, then Kya quickly getting in on it. 

Tenzin was Aang, Bumi was Zuko, Kya was Suki, and Lin was Azula.

*

The next time, they had ended up in the water again, because Kya had complained that it had been _forever_ since Izumi was on the island to hang out so they _had_ to go do something fun!

That day ended in a nap.

Izumi was exhausted from firelording and travel, Lin was exhausted from the many emergencies of the last week(triads were fighting a turf war), Tenzin was exhausted from the new airbenders and balancing helping others with training, and Kya and Bumi were exhausted from staying at a club the night before to the wee hours of the morning.

Pema had woken Tenzin up after another hour, and went to finish dinner as Tenzin woke the rest of them and insisted they stay.

*

The fourth practice however, had ended differently. Katara was visiting, and they had decided to clue her in on the secret for advice. She found an old scroll with the right moves, and helped them start practicing.

They still collapsed after, but now with water and a sense of productivity along with happiness.

Exhaustion was present as well...Lin was having a hard time staying awake as the sun beat down on her with a calming warmth. 

*

The resulting practices involved significantly more dancing.

Even though Lin hadn’t planned on doing it, much less enjoying it, that’s exactly where she had found herself.

They twirled, stomped, and jumped, and Lin had never felt so...floaty.

She let the dance take her, listening to the music and her inner song, and let it go.

Earthbending was _fun_ , more than it had been in years(not that it wasn’t fun still, but mainly using it to take out criminals and battle put a damper on the practice. It was more about being good than just _being_ , and this dance was just _being_. As a child, she hadn’t enjoyed the break from working hard to be the best, thought it pointless and only aquesied when Aang had phrased it as learning a different technique to excel in that regular masters don’t know. Once that happened, she had enjoyed it, but not really seen it as something worth devoting time and effort to. Now however, she was old and tired enough to recognize the dance for what it was, creativity, fun, exercise, time spent with people she cared about and enjoyed the presence of, and she was thankful for it.)

There was still a lot of fooling around and laughing, as Lin tried to spin and leap like an air bender while blindfolded, Tenzin failed to think like an earthbender, and Bumi readjusted to using a sword(they could have used someone else as the non bender as he technically wasn’t anymore but...it wouldn’t be the same). 

After a while, Lin had stopped being conscious of the dancers around her, because she trusted them, and they trusted her, in this balance of danger and fluidity.

(She was occasionally conscious of Kya for...reasons.( _Her hair was distracting ok!_ ) but not conscious like self conscious in a bad way.)

The elements spinning around them could hurt each other easily, but they _wouldn’t_ and she could trust that.

It was a nice time to _breathe_ , and Lin took full advantage.

*

The dance was perfect, a month before the festival, or nearly anyway, everyone moving with practiced ease as the music kept up its steady drumbeat.

Lin had her eyes closed as she danced, relying on her seismic sense and the memory of the movements to guide her along, so, when they finally ended in their resting positions, she was very confused by sudden clapping.

She opened her eyes, and...Jinora? Was standing by the hill they were practicing under.

They were literally on the opposite side of the island...how did she get there?

Lin supposed it wasn’t too out of the ordinary. It wasn’t like they were being quiet...bending, at least earth bending, was inherently loud, and it’s not like the drumbeat was not but...she thought they wouldn’t be able to hear from the house.

_(And if they could hear, why hadn’t anyone else been down here by now?)_

Tenzin went to his daughter, Kya and Bumi following close behind, and hugged her as she congratulated them on how awesome the dance was.

Lin followed behind them, after a moment, and she couldn’t help the smile that came to her face...she was happy someone liked the dance, she knew it was great, but it was good to have an outside opinion, and...Jinora had always been her favorite of the air kids, she was the most quiet but sweet and definitely wouldn’t spill this if they asked her to keep it secret.

*

It didn’t necessarily need to be a secret...some people had probably guessed, but the official story was that the harmony dance was being performed by talented benders who had been taught by the previous avatar to symbolize the momentous occasion of the earth kingdom getting its rightful ruler and becoming a democracy, republic city not becoming obliterated for the basically third time in the last few years, the first housing complex for those whose homes were destroyed being unveiled, and the 75th anniversary of the end of the hundred year war. 

No one had guessed who it was yet, at least from the gossip she heard around the station, because Aang had taught a lot of people in his travels. He hadn’t taught anyone else this dance but...no one exactly knew that.

It had all started when they were young, Lin was only 10, on the 40th anniversary.

Or well, it started 40 years before that, when the fire lord had a festival to celebrate the first anniversary, and they decided to adapt a dance to show harmony of the elements.

Since then, every decade the original team avatar would perform the dance, but...that year yakone had happened(not exactly but forgive me some timeline) and the city was still a bit shaken.

In addition, Lin had only been 10, but she was the youngest, and a master earth bender...and all of the other children were older but not yet adults, and were masters or nearly there…

Their parents had decided this was the best time to teach them the dance. So, they did, incorporating the non bending portion that they(Sokka and Zuko) designed for Sokka and/or Suki to also take part and to show non benders they were just as worthy as benders.

Bumi was the nonbender, using the sword, fans, and boomerang, Izumi was fire, Kya was water, Tenzin was air, and Lin was earth.

It took months to learn, but it was worth it, and Lin had found it interesting, after she started to think of it as a new bending style to be learned. She had even considered taking other bending dance lessons afterward, though she didn’t act on it, preferring to dance with uncle Aang on the island instead of formally.

They had never done a repeat performance, because by the time the next decade anniversary came around Bumi was in the forces, Kya had scattered to some corner or the globe to explore, Tenzin was busy training with Aang, and Lin was busy in the academy, trying to measure up to her mother.

No one would be expecting it, and Lin just hoped they would enjoy it.

*

_Lin’s love of rain had dissipated greatly once she was actually expected to work in it._

However, on her days off, she still loved the calming pattern.

Water wasn’t her favorite thing, but rain meant she could stay inside without any guilt, and just relax(on off days at least). The sky was dark, and peaceful, and Lin could curl up on her couch with tea and _breathe_ for what felt like the first time in ages.

Today’s rain was slightly less welcome, because it meant she was missing practice...but it was rain, and she was calm, and she had _time_ and _space_ , so it was alright.

She couldn’t quite get kyas face out of her mind, and her smile as they splashed in rain puddles as children, and the easy contentment as they made hot chocolate and curled up with a book when it got too rainy to be reasonable.

If Kya was here, the day would be better, but Lin was content to be by herself too.

Or at least, she had thought so, before Kya’s sunny smile was lighting up her apartment, and Lin was scrambling for her coat so Kya didn’t get all the water on the floor.

Kya just laughed, and bent a glob of water out of her clothes, hovering it near Lin, who caught it in a rock, and sealed it.

“You’re no fun” Kya pouted at her, and Lin just laughed in response.

Kya sashayed into the kitchen, and Lin trailed behind, absentmindedly grabbing the hot chocolate box down from the shelf.

Kya zeroed in on her hands, and beamed, “Hot chocolate!!! You know me so well” 

Lin smiled, trying to stop a blush from crawling to her face(just because she dreamed about being domestic and cuddling with Kya didn’t mean she had to blush in her presence!!).

The hot chocolate was prepared, with extra marshmallows of course, and they settled onto the couch, a blanket draped over the both of them as the radio droned on in the background.

Miyuki curled up in Lin’s lap, and she absently petted her, another pair of warm hands soon joining her.

Her hands froze, and then Miyuki mewed her back into reality, Lin obligingly moving her hands to pet her once again.

They didn’t have to talk, the silence was comfortable, and the pattering rain, warm candles, and background drone of the radio, made for a very comfortable scene.

_Lin wasn’t worried about missing the practice, anymore._

*

Lin’s hands were shaking, and she didn’t understand why.

She was in the spotlight every day, making speeches, giving orders, and fighting, and she was a bit nervous yes, but she had learned to push it down over the years and do her job.

This was on a stage, with a spotlight, as a surprise that no one knew about, but...it shouldn’t be any different.

She clasped her hands and tried to will them to stop shaking, she was literally wearing a blindfold, she didn’t even have to see the people… she was broken out of her thoughts by a hand on her shoulder.

Kya was squeezing her shoulder and smiling down at her, and Lin managed to muster a small smile back...much easier than she expected.

“We got this!!! Cmon, let’s do a team huddle!” Kya grinned.

Lin stood obligingly, a spark rolling down her spine as Kya grasped her hand and pulled her up.

That had been happening often lately with Kya, so Lin didn’t flinch, and just stood, following Kya to where Bumi, Tenzin, and Izumi were standing.

They put their hands together in mutual agreement(Kya and Bumi had made them do this before and after every practice) and did a complex pattern of overlapping hands from their childhood, before throwing them up to the tune of “yea!”(It had been a cheer made up in childhood, so it was not exactly the coolest thing ever). 

*

Lin steadied her breath as they stood on the sidelines and remembered why she was doing this(or the logical reasons at least).

This year, the city needed a morale booster more than ever(as it had been nearly destroyed far too often recently), they were together for an extended period for the first time in decades, and the harmony dance done by their parents was always a cheerer...

Lin breathed slowly and deliberately, forcing herself to remain calm as they waited behind the stage. Being anxious would make everything much worse, so she focused on her blindfold, and the ground beneath her feet, bending it absently with her toes. 

_She could do this._

*

_She had in fact, done this._

The dance went off without a hitch, and the crowd loved it, especially if their volume was taken into account.

Lin felt a deep sense of relief, and the desire to sleep for a week and also run around like a hyperactive squirrel warred within her. 

With an offer of group dinner, the squirrel won, and soon they were in the cave again, eating takeout and laughing with each other.

Lin looked at Kya, and her stomach fluttered at her beauty. She had time, and when the time felt right she could...do something. 

_She had time, plenty of time, and intended to take full advantage of it._

_Maybe next time when Kya came over in the rain...It would be different._

**Author's Note:**

> Some warnings:
> 
> Mention of relationship problems(relationship of convenience):(Lin's heart ached...Lin was on Bumi).  
> Mention of stage fright:(The practice, anymore...we got this!)(It was not exactly very cool...she could do this).
> 
> Some notes:
> 
> About the past Linzin relationship mention, I headcanon that their relationship was mostly comphet and convenience. They were best friends, as two kids likely in the same class who were the children of famous people and spent a lot of their childhood together, and when a girl and a boy are friends like that, everyone thinks they're dating and makes comments about it(as I can know from personal experience). From that, and societal expectations, they start thinking that the friendship must be romantic because everyone sees it that way, so they should date, and as teenagers who probably felt pressure from their friends getting together, the media, and others, they did get together, and were friends so had a decent relationship for a while and were too stubborn to get out of it because they likely had few other friends(and in Lin's case her mother and sister had left her) and depended on each other. 
> 
> The saving princess Linny game is a game from when they were kids, Lin was afraid to go into the water, because she couldn't see with her seismic sense and Toph wouldn’t go in it.  
> She thought it looked fun, because the other kids were having fun, but she couldn't bring herself to walk into it, even with someone(usually sokka) with her. Therefore, Bumi decided to make a game of carrying her in, because she could tolerate and enjoy that(she was also tiny, always much smaller than the others and therefore able to be easily carried, until a growth spurt later on...leaving her unfortunately still very noticeably smaller). He had to make it a game, because of course he did. It was during his hero’s, knights, and dragons phase, so Lin became a princess, and everyone else was a knight, dragon, or sorcerer trying to steal Lin back. As they got older, they kept playing, mostly with Lin as the central figure because she still wasn’t entirely comfortable with water on her own, and in general wouldn't go in until they made her, preferring to read in a lounge chair. They had contests for it too, and it became somewhat of a tradition whenever they vacationed somewhere together near water(They tried to do so at least once a year, with the Beifongs, cloud family, and fire family, usually ending up at ember island for about a week).
> 
> The ending is ambiguous because I was tired and confession scenes are hard for me to write, I’ll probably add a scene with Kya coming over during the rain and them confessing at some point!!!


End file.
